1. Which hour was most daunting for you?Since I began the day on only three hours sleep, I had to nap by Hour 7. Which meant I could continue through the night after waking and didn’t struggle again until the final hour. But those moments of fatigue came without warning and it was truly, truly difficult to find motivation to continue.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?This being my first year, I really have no idea! I would suggest shorter books, for sure, since I got bogged down with trying to complete a couple of books I was already reading and felt some frustration in not being able to say I’d completed anything.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?There seemed to be a lack of blog posts leading up the event, and that made it challenging for a first-timer to be comfortable with the structure. Perhaps a few general posts about the process or the prizes? Maybe a few posts during the week-of that stir excitement for the start of the event and generate new interest. Also, posting some pre-event tweets would remind past participants that the event is coming up. (I saw a few people on Twitter who were disappointed that they didn’t know about the event until day-of tweets had already begun.)

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?I think the cheerleaders did a great job including a newbie (me)! It made me feel immediately connected to other readers in the event. The hourly posts on the website were also perfectly timed.

5. How many books did you read?I was able to complete one book, and I read portions of two others, as well as a couple of magazines and a few blog posts.

7. Which book did you enjoy most?Oh, The Yankee Years, naturally! I was able to read this “behind-the-scenes” accounting of the team while watching the team clinch the American League Division Series! Nothing cooler than that!

8. Which did you enjoy least?Because I didn’t read for volume, I had no trouble with enjoyment of my choices.

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?I wasn’t a cheerleader but as a recipient of those cheers I can say that I most valued the personal notes. Any time a cheerleader made reference to content in my blog posts or a tweet I made, it felt very much like a personal encouragement to me.

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?I’m absolutely going to participate again! This was so much fun, both personally and communally, and I will probably try to add cheering to my duties in the next event though I definitely will continue to read, as well.